Powerlifting Gear: Wrist Straps

I had a workout partner that saw me doing some shrugs one day and asked me to borrow his wrist straps and throw some more weight on the bar. Thinking that I am just doing shrugs I don't want to get used to doing them with straps and have one more thing to carry in my gym bag. Reluctantly I tried them out.

I guess some people like the weight they can shrug with and do other deadlift supporting exercises with the wrist straps. I however was grumpy that day and to top that off it was a bad glucose spiking day with my diabetes care. So I tried a couple sets with the straps and kindly gave them back. I don't think I ever used them again.

But here is 3 tips I gleaned from other people in the gym though regarding wrist straps:

1. If you can't pickup the weight at least once without the straps, don't pick it up with the straps. Just in case one of the straps breaks you still want to be able to set the weight done properly and not tear the tendons in your hands or wrist.

2. Get good quality straps that are thick. Even thicker than knee wraps. To keep them from tearing like in tip 1. It doesn't take long to break in wrist straps so don't worry if they are a little stiff coming out of the store.

3. Not too tight. The part of the wrist strap that goes around the wrist will tighten during the lift so be careful not to cut off too much blood flow that will hinder the lift.

Like most things in powerlifting and life in general moderation is the key. You should not be using straps for every exercise as we all know. But if you got room in your Powerlifting Gear bag wrist straps can be a good tool for making decent gains. They can be good especially for dead lift support movements.